ABS prevented an accident with my van

[Alan]

2002 Sienna with ABS on the front disc brakes,new Michelin Harmony tires,8:30pm,slick road conditions.

I'm driving down the road doing around 40(which was the speed limit)and there is a Corolla that's pausing on a side street(on my right)stop sign looks like it's waiting for me to pass in order to pull out.Next thing you know she pulls out when I'm about 80ft(my rough guess,basically head on collision type lack of distance)in front her and stops dead cold in my lane,basically she froze when she saw me coming,like a dummy.I had no choice but to pull hard to the right and fast!

I slam on the horn and start braking at the same time while trying to veer to the right turn which was pretty darn sharp to avoid T-boning her(maybe she wanted that though

).Man,although these Sienna's look so "sporty"

they aren't made for this type of action,lemme tell ya!.These roads were darn slick so I was hesitant to lock the brakes in a full brake slam in fear of just sliding head on with locked breaks when I guess I applied enough pressure to activate the ABS.
This is the first vehicle I ever owned a with it and also the first time i've had it activate on me

.

It pulsed hard and fast(felt like I was driving over rumble strips)and allowed me to regain good control over the van again and safely veer to the right but man it was close,too close

.

Prior to this I was never sold on ABS but man it really saved my family from a pretty big accident

and prevented 2 cars from getting

(my van woulda won though

)

Oh well,there's my ABS rant,glad I got 4 wheel ABS on my GTI now!

[ October 20, 2004, 07:50 AM: Message edited by: Alan ]

 

[drm7]

I have learned to love ABS. Both my vehicles now have it. In the early rain or snow when it's really slick you don't have to worry very much about sliding. I read a Car and Driver article years ago where they brought in race car drivers and if I remember right they couldn't stop faster than the ABS and that was ABS from 12 years ago. I think they are better now than back then. It's tough though switching back to non-ABS. You have to know what you're driving so you can compensate for how it's going to act in a panic stop.

Glad you weren't hurt and your van is safe!

 

[Pablo]

Despite the "anti ABS" crowd, (and there is lots of evidence that, yes in dry conditions a skilled driver MAY be able to stop faster) - ABS does save!! Your situation is a great example.

Glad to know you and family and car are fine.

PS I never thought of Sienna as sporty, but I drive a Volvo so what do I know?

PSS My first ABS car I drove, tried it out during the test drive.....the sales weenie almost dumped in his shorts.

 

[Alan]

I meant the "sporty remark to be

.It's about as sporty as Kristy Alley is slim

!

 

[MarkC]

I've seen the times I wished my Cherokee had ABS. Even when the brakes are in good condition, it's always ...interesting when I have to brake hard, especially on the wet roads.( Why do people in Seattle seem to not know how to drive when it rains? You'd think they'd be usued to it.)
It won't try to get sideways, but the backend will tend to lock up. Luckily, I've gotten quite used to it, and reacting properly is second nature now. But it can be a bit scarey for passengers.....

 

[The_Jeff]

40 mph is right on the cusp of "should I brake or swerve?" when it comes to avoiding accidents. Lucky you were able to avoid it by braking AND swerving.

With my learner's permit, behind the wheel of my Dad's 12-year old Ford Fairmont, a Rolls Royce pulled out in front of me exactly like that Corolla you describe. No ABS helped me but I had darn good 16 year old reflexes. And I didn't hit him.

 

[JHZR2]

Ive heard stories too of ABS being triggered incorretly at intersections that were slick and bumpy, etc. People have ended up loosing a lot of their braking ability, and end up in the3 middle of the intersection.

Im just glad that you swerved, because if you would have slammed on the brake and hoped for the best, the ABS could have caused a lot of trouble...

I still like and believe in them

JMH

 

[Matt_S]

There was one situation a year or two ago where I had mine activate on a dry road. It was about 2 AM and the wife and I were driving back to her parents' house on a rural stretch of highway. I was just coming around a curve when I came upon an enormous raccoon smack dab in the middle of my lane. I slammed on the brakes and swerved out the way, barely missing him. The ABS kicked in and probably saved me from losing control of the car and/or hitting that animal. He would have caused some serious front end damage if I had hit him.

 

[kenw]

When teaching my son to drive (in my 97 camry) I purposely had him slam the brakes to engage the ABS so he would know what it was. It can be a bit disconcerting if you never had the experience before, the natural tendency is to let up, exactly the WRONG thing to do!

ABS did "decrease" one accident once. Idiot turned acoss my path on a wet road, ABS slowed me enough to limit my damage to the bumper/cover and hood. Without ABS, I would have slid for sure and probably totalled both cars.

Silly me, I went thru an intersection on a green light....

 

[1sttruck]

You need to pay more attention to tire selection in the winter with ABS. In deeper slush locking up will slow you down better than not locking up. On ice ABS can minimize the car getting sideways, which should make you feel good as you sail past the stop light and thru the intersection with the ABS light blinking at you. Otherwise it seems to work very well.

 

[kevm14]

quote:

---

Originally posted by 1sttruck:
In deeper slush locking up will slow you down better than not locking up. On ice ABS can minimize the car getting sideways, which should make you feel good as you sail past the stop light and thru the intersection with the ABS light blinking at you. Otherwise it seems to work very well.

---

Some accidents can be avoided just by maintaining control and swerving around the obstacle. This doesn't apply to red light intersections but for a lot of almost-accidents, it does.

4 channel ABS has the ability to modulate brake pressure independently to each wheel. I don't care how good you are at threshold braking (professional driver), you don't have that ability in a non-ABS car. You have one input, the brake pedal. It's all or nothing.

I make a regular habit out of exercising the ABS in both of my cars. I do it for the **** of it, and just to keep myself familiarized with the braking characteristics of the car in various situations (straight on dry or wet, cornering hard on dry, cornering on wet, etc). ABS's engagement should NEVER be a surprise to a driver. It should be part of the driver certification process for getting your license in this country (so should a lot of other things).

For instance, I was in my Caprice taking an off-ramp at maybe 8 or 9 tenths and I said to my passenger (a fellow car enthusiast) "I wonder what happens if I stab my brakes." I was cornering hard enough that the tires were starting to squeal (Bridgestone Potenza RE-750s in 255/50 17s) when I booted the brake pedal as hard as I could for about 2 seconds. Know what happened? ABS engaged, car slowed down rapidly, and the car held the exact same line. No oversteer, no understeer, no surprises. Sounds good to me.

 

[rpn453]

quote:

---

Originally posted by eljefino:
40 mph is right on the cusp of "should I brake or swerve?" when it comes to avoiding accidents.

---

I don't understand what you mean by this. I've avoided deer and vehicles by hard swerving at 70mph, and I've avoided deer and vehicles by hard braking too. I've had situations where I would have certainly hit a deer at over 60mph if I had braked hard instead of swerving, and situations where I can only brake because of uncertainty as to what way the deer is going to go. It all depends on the situation.

[ October 24, 2004, 12:29 AM: Message edited by: rpn453 ]

 

[99 GASE2]

quote:

---

Originally posted by kevm14:
...I make a regular habit out of exercising the ABS in both of my cars. I do it for the **** of it, and just to keep myself familiarized with the braking characteristics of the car in various situations (straight on dry or wet, cornering hard on dry, cornering on wet, etc). ABS's engagement should NEVER be a surprise to a driver. It should be part of the driver certification process for getting your license in this country (so should a lot of other things).

For instance, I was in my Caprice taking an off-ramp at maybe 8 or 9 tenths and I said to my passenger (a fellow car enthusiast) "I wonder what happens if I stab my brakes." I was cornering hard enough that the tires were starting to squeal (Bridgestone Potenza RE-750s in 255/50 17s) when I booted the brake pedal as hard as I could for about 2 seconds. Know what happened? ABS engaged, car slowed down rapidly, and the car held the exact same line. No oversteer, no understeer, no surprises. Sounds good to me.

---

I'm thinking are you crazy!
Got to admit, you got some balls to activate your ABS in a hard corner like that.
I have heard from some car forums that have rolled their rides that way.

Biggest difference so the ABS does not activate is: get better gripping/traction tires.
With my Bridgestome Potenza RE950 & Bridgestone Blizzak LM-22 tires (vs stock); I almost never see my ABS activated warning light come on anymore (expect on bumpy roads).

kevm14, got to like the Bridgestone Potenza RE750's summer tires.
I wanted them originally but they were $50Cdn more per tire than the RE950's; & living in Canada I firgured that the RE950 'all-season' & rain compound would work better for me in fall/late-fall before I put on my Blizzak's.

 

[The_Jeff]

Well, imagine you're going 10 mph and a kid runs in front. You just stop, it happens faster than you could get in another lane.

Speed up to 70, you see a "gator" (shredded tire recap) on a lonely highway. Swerving into the next lane makes more sense. I figure 35-40 to be about where i'd start swerving instead of stopping in most instances.

Deer are an odd exception to the rule, since they seem to WANT to be in front of you no matter what. Other obstacles stay put or have the good sense to move way. I agree that deer need to be passed slowly if at all possible...

quote:

---

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by eljefino:
40 mph is right on the cusp of "should I brake or swerve?" when it comes to avoiding accidents.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I don't understand what you mean by this. I've avoided deer and vehicles by hard swerving at 70mph, and I've avoided deer and vehicles by hard braking too. I've had situations where I would have certainly hit a deer at over 60mph if I had braked hard instead of swerving, and situations where I can only brake because of uncertainty as to what way the deer is going to go. It all depends on the situation.

---

 

[rpn453]

quote:

---

Originally posted by eljefino:
Speed up to 70, you see a "gator" (shredded tire recap) on a lonely highway. Swerving into the next lane makes more sense. I figure 35-40 to be about where i'd start swerving instead of stopping in most instances.

---

I guess when I said "I don't understand what you mean by this", I was right. I was leaning towards thinking you meant that it was dangerous to swerve at high speeds (which may actually be true for many vehicles, but not the ones I drive!).

 

[Kestas]

quote:

---

Originally posted by kenw:
When teaching my son to drive (in my 97 camry) I purposely had him slam the brakes to engage the ABS so he would know what it was....

---

That's a very responsible thing to teach. I do pretty much the same thing every first snow we get. Gotta get the 'feel' of the road. Most accidents occur at the beginning of the season for a variety of reasons... some continue to drive crazy fast, others slow down more than necessary, some have never driven in snow. You get a dangerous mix of drivers for the first snow.

 

[JeepZJ4.0]

I learned how to drive on ABS equipped cars. My Jeep has ABS and I know what it feels like. My dad rented a Chrysler Sebring LX to come see me this weekend (I posted a mini review on here) and it didn't have ABS.... That was scary!

ABS is a fantastic device. It must take a really hard slam to engage them in a Toyota..... I have never felt the ABS engage on my mom's Avalon.

Glad to hear that you and your family are safe.

 

[Gene K]

Even on dry pavement I have never been able to stop in less than 100' from 60 mph without ABS. (Test Course at Road Atlanta).

The only problem I have with ABS is in the snow. Most american cars do not have a deactivation switch. It can take a long time to stop when you cant build up mounds of snow in front of the front tires.

The best handling Minivan I have driven is the Mazda MPV. However it is smaller than most others.

Gene

 

[rpn453]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Gene K:
Even on dry pavement I have never been able to stop in less than 100' from 60 mph without ABS. (Test Course at Road Atlanta).

---

What kind of car are you driving for that?

quote:

---

Originally posted by Gene K:
The only problem I have with ABS is in the snow. Most american cars do not have a deactivation switch. It can take a long time to stop when you cant build up mounds of snow in front of the front tires.

---

I've noticed that problem and pulled the ABS fuse in the past.

 

[Jelly]

quote:

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Originally posted by Gene K:
The only problem I have with ABS is in the snow.

---

You ever drive much off-road in mud?